“The team management was slightly taken aback when the BCCI approved Kohli’s plea of letting Anushka stay with him. But they were told there was no reason to worry as the two were planning to get married. And this isn’t the first time such a thing was happening. A captain’s girlfriend had travelled with the team in the past as well,” the BCCI official was quoted as saying to Mail Today.

Unlike football, Test cricket is played for eight hours. And when the mind is on picking and dropping friends, the result will be visible on the field itself. Off-field activities definitely play on the mind

There were some apprehensions in the team management about how the media would react to it. But the board had assumed that Kohli will be able to handle the situation and the media would never know of her presence. “When the management enquired on how to handle the media if they questioned her presence with the vice-captain, they were told that Kohli can handle the media attention and wouldn’t let the cat out of the bag,” the official was quoted in the report.

“Unlike football, Test cricket is played for eight hours. And when the mind is on picking and dropping friends, the result will be visible on the field itself. Off-field activities definitely play on the mind,” he added.